| Author | Message | ||
| Don KS/TX (66.82.9.30)
Rating: N/A |
I have a friend who put round surplus barrels in the bay for waste and fresh tanks over 15 years ago, has been a happy fulltimer since with them. I was trying to encourage him to post his experience here, and he replied that it would do no good, since responses would be assured as follows: 1. They were not designed for poop use. 2. They probably will not hold up. 3. They were not designed for Bus use. 4. It would be "better" to spend a thousand or so on "professional" tanks. 5. The composition of the plastic is not suitable for dishwater. 6. Some code or the other prohibits the use of round barrels. 7. The father of the girl that mows the grass for a neighbor is a brother-in-law to a cop, and he says they are illegal. 8. A friend of somebody got his bus condemed for driving on a public roadway with round barrels. 9. The poop will coagulate and fermet improperly in a round barrel. 10. An alcoholic will point out that you probably should put whiskey in them barrels instead of poop.. 11. You get what you pay for, if they are low cost they are sure to be defective.. 12. If you save a buck on tanks, you will never be able to resell your bus. 13. I don't believe they even make round tanks, can you provide me a web address for the maker? Do any of us find ourselves in there? Nah. | ||
| Marty R. (199.177.63.2) Rating: N/A |
Not really round, but made to go over round (cylindar) tank: http://polyjohn.com/product_details.cfm?Product_ID=55 **also not really designed for bus use** This company makes all of their tanks. It's rather interesting, I got a chance to take a tour of their manufacturing plant a few years ago.. http://www.polyjohn.com | ||
| Derek (24.66.241.23) Rating: N/A |
Don: If he is convinced that we are all going to flame him for sharing his experience, I don't see how to 'unconvince him'. I really doubt anyone in thier right mind would doubt him, because he HAS done it and it HAS worked for him. | ||
| Don KS/TX (66.82.9.15)
Rating: N/A |
That is his point, that it seems to make no difference to people whose minds are made up. Takes all kinds of people to make the world go round, or to make a bus board. | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (209.128.99.4)
Rating: N/A |
Hey Don, that was funny. I think I'm number 10. I'm using the blue, round, 55-gal drums in the boatyard to catch Grey water from my boat. If you remember a couple of weeks ago, there was a thread that a cubic foot of volume was roughly seven gallons, but a five Gallon bucket is only 11X13. A lot of volume is lost if you cut the corners off. Personally, I have a 31' bus, with no basement. I have to use every corner of tankage I can. If this wasn't the issue, I'd already have them bolted under my bus. One Caveat though--with rough service, they split along the seam in the top--But I'm talkin' REAL rough service. Gary | ||
| Doug (69.139.69.67) Rating: N/A |
Better use would be to use them as vats for a mobile still to make moonshine | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (209.128.99.4)
Rating: N/A |
Hmm....Moonshine bus. Sounds like a "Concept" vehicle to me. Gary | ||
| Craig Craddock (24.127.66.163)
Rating: N/A |
When I originally purchased my bus it 2 plastic barrels for holding tanks of about 55 gallons each. My main objection to them was for the gallons held they sure took up a lot of space. They took up most of the useable space in the back bay of a 4104. They were a heavy plastic about 3/8 to 1/2 inch. wall thickness. I think they would last as long as anything else. I have no idea what they were originally used for. Guess on the following statement, I currently have larger gallonage rectangle tanks that use about 40% of the space of the round ones. | ||
| Johnny (67.242.221.189) Rating: N/A |
Craig, I think I've seen those type of plastic barrels for bulk soda syrup, newspaper ink, & many other things. Which brings up a point: I'd recommend avoiding any plastic drums that you DON'T know the original use of--that way, you don't put fresh water in a barrel that used to contain, say, paint thinner. I am considering using these barrels. | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (209.128.99.4)
Rating: N/A |
I got mine at a local military surplus. they were drinking water containers. Gary | ||
| BrianMCI96A3 (65.41.249.117) Rating: N/A |
Well, I don't have anything against plastic drums, per se, but I'm thinking of building my fresh water tanks into the pedestal of our bed. Craig Shepard has a great website where he describes how he made his own tanks for his MC-9 out of sheets of poly using a relatively inexpensive plastic welder. Pretty cool, but then his whole site is too. Brian | ||
| Richard Jones (63.80.251.75)
Rating: N/A |
I followed Craig's idea of making my tanks and it worked out very well. Plus I saved over $1,000 and was able to make the most of the space in the bay of my MC9. Richard Jones | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (209.128.99.4)
Rating: N/A |
Hi Richard, What method did you use to make them? Gary | ||
| Richard Jones (63.80.251.75)
Rating: N/A |
I followed Craig's techniques and bought sheets of polypropylene plastic, welding rod, fittings and a welder from Harbor Frieght. Then cut the plastic sheets with a 18-tooth skillsaw blade and beveled the edges with a router. | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
Because of budget restraints (like NO money!) we also are going to use the 55 gallon round plastic water barrels as holding tanks. Right now in the testing stage--like rolling the empty barrels up on the roof of the house, filling them with water,... ...then rolling them off the roof onto the concrete driveway. Sosss far no problemo. Half full tests in the future. Yeah..they take up a little more space being round, but we plan on using the little spaces left over as little... ....storage spaces. Planning on saving over $1000 bucks by using barrels. Will use the money elsewhere on the conversion. Good luck. | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (209.128.99.4)
Rating: N/A |
You FILL them with water and they survive? Holy Cats! We use ours in the boatyard to catch Grey water and then roll them over to where we dump them and flip them over. the one that gets dumped the most (Shower) is split across the seam. Like I said in my earlier post REAL rough service. I'd use them too, but I have a 31' bus and I need every quart of tankage I can get. If they do split on you, just pay $50 and replace it. No biggie. Gary | ||
| two dogs (67.30.23.117) Rating: N/A |
also ..a rolling barrel gathers no moss..  seriously tho...they are tough...I get mine for 5.00 each...used to have soap in them..fine for blackwater & graywater..wonder what the neighbors think about Henry... ....fun ,huh Henry | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
I got my suicide barrels from the local farm and feed store for $20.00 each. They had fruit juice concentrate in them (grape juice) sossss if they bust.... ....things will smell, kinda like, you know, fruity. Full, the barrels handled the smash just fine. Am guessing half full tanks will be subjected.... ...to more hydralic internal forces like warp speed impacts. Will let all of you know how they hold up. Plus I can store wine in them. | ||
| two dogs (67.30.23.117) Rating: N/A |
I can see the headlines now: LITTLE OLD LADY IN WHEELCHAIR....WIPED OUT last thing she said.... "that's the biggest water baloon I've ever seen" | ||
| Dale MC8 (69.19.169.195)
Rating: N/A |
Check the local car wash. In my area they are happy to have the soap barrels hauled off. Dale | ||
| two dogs (66.90.212.231) Rating: N/A |
Henry.. know you probably have already noticed..the bungs are two different thread types...coarse & pipe thread...make sure the pipe thread is down when you have laid your barrel down for a holding tank | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
Actually I did not know yet about the two different threads on the barrels. Will have to check out their bungs more closely. Since these containers will have to empty thru the syphon method which will require larger than normal outlet diameters... ...We will probably end using a hole saw and going to large diameter discharge pipe diameters on the tops of the barrels... ...And just leave the existing two openings capped with the existing plugs. The barrels will have no openings at all on the sides or bottoms. Right now I am confused as to which board I am addressing the question of using $cheap$ barrels rather than $expensive$ custom square tanks. But then I confuse easily. And yeah, one neighbor did in fact come over, (my landlord infact) and inquired as to what I was doing... ...Rolling water barrels off the roof onto the driveway. When I explained the science in my madness, he quickly agreed... ...That it was good science and then actually helped me roll barrels off the roof after we had filled them with water. But this is... ...Rural Oregon where we tend to be somewhat disturbed to begin with. Looks like the barrels will work as fresh, gray and black tanks. | ||
| Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (209.128.99.4)
Rating: N/A |
Hi Henry, One bung is normal Pipe, the other is something weird. I believe mine came with adaprots for both to neck down to....1"... Maybe. Empty through siphon? I would put the pipe-thread one down and connect it to your dump valve. Where in Rural Oregon, if I may ask. Gary (An Oregoonian stuck in Krazy Kalifornia) | ||
| two dogs (66.90.217.53) Rating: N/A |
syphon....now I am mixed up....that's how you are going to empty your tanks??? everybody else uses gravity.... | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (24.196.191.70)
Rating: N/A |
I sure wouldn't want the job of sucking on the siphon hose for the black water tank! Richard | ||
| two dogs (66.90.217.53) Rating: N/A |
I read somewhere that a "thief" was going to steal gas out of a motorhome,but, he got into the wrong tank...that was probably just a "story"... | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.164.175.142)
Rating: N/A |
Time for some bad stories after some good science. My '74 Crown 10-wheeler ex-schoolie has no real under floor storage except for one side trunk and the big rear trunk. Sooos...the plan right now is to install six (6) 55 gallon round water barrels INSIDE the coach in the upright position overtop the rear eight (8) rear wheel wheel wells. Three on each side. Three will contain fresh water, two will contain gray holding waste and the sixth will hold black waste water. Plan on supplying the marine type toilet with gray water. Only the toilet will fill the black tank. Mass-a-cator (SP) pumps will be required. Stout bracing/supporting will be necessary to carry the total weight of water/waste. The top weight is not a problem--much less than a load of 90 school kids. The syphon principle will be employeed to empty the tanks. This has ben tested with individual barrels and works just fine. Amazing but true. The barrels are high enough to create the necessary head pressure/suction after priming the discharge pips(s). Ball type discharge valves are planned. Will have to have a drip holding tray under the gray and black barrels. No openings will be in the sides or bottoms--just the tops. Still finalizing the actual plumbing runs which have to leave room for other coach stuff. Two long closets are planned to encase the barrels with limited short storage on top of the tanks. May be able to slip in a narrow short kids bunk also. A hallway will run between the barrels leading to the rear planned bedroom. Hope this makes sense to all. Now clear as mud. Large roof vent and discharge pipes planned. May have to valve the pipes to keep odors under control will running down the road. Wish me luck, I think I am going to need it. CROWNS FOREVER!! | ||
| Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (65.37.90.230)
Rating: N/A |
Henry, Surely at that height you can just use gravity to empty the tanks. Valve each one individually and link them together into a standard outlet pipe. I assume that your shower, vanity and kitchen sink will all have a sump or will you use a direct pump to get the waste water into the barrels. Peter. | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (65.74.64.199)
Rating: N/A |
Henry, one other thing about ball valves; they are subject to splitting if they freeze when there is no air in the void around the ball. This problem can be avoided by leaving the valves at a 45° position during winter freezes or by making sure the valve is turned back and forth a couple of times while the line it is mounted in is empty. Gate valves rarely split when frozen; at least that has been our experience. For what it's worth. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 Suncatcher | ||
| ChuckS (Chucks) (69.3.74.58)
Rating: N/A |
"Plan on supplying the marine type toilet with gray water. " Now _that_ makes a lot of sense! Don't think I've come across that idea yet. Thanks, Henry! --Chuck (still at the drawing board stage) |